


Steadfast

by crimsonpenny



Category: Sleepy Hollow (TV)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-09-18
Updated: 2013-09-18
Packaged: 2017-12-26 23:16:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 786
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/971440
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/crimsonpenny/pseuds/crimsonpenny
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A key can open more than a lock.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Steadfast

Crane held the door as Abby slipped into Corbin's office. The station was quiet, only the night clerk was on duty and he had been easily placated with a fresh cup of coffee. He had simply shrugged when they explained they were just stopping by to look at the files Corbin had left on his desk before taking his last shift.

They had talked about removing the files to a safer location until the night Abbie handed Crane the key to the imposing file cabinet. Dropping it quickly with a muffled curse, he had cradled his hand and had shot her an accusatory glare. The key laying on the carpet looked innocent enough but it had felt like molten iron in his grip.

"I think that perhaps you had better open the lock," he said wryly. "I do not think that key is meant for me."

Abbie gave him a puzzled look as she picked up the key and slid it into the lock. 

"I would, however, like to look at the object once you're finished." He held out a pencil for her to slip the key onto its end. As Abbie carefully removed the file containing the information on Rev. Knapp he flipped on the lamp and dropped the key on the desk. He pushed the seemingly benign item around, noting that it was not damaging to either the surface of the desk or to the pencil. It was, all and all, an unremarkable object. The incredibly fine cuts of its edges still gleamed in the lamplight, not yet worn down by age or use. Grabbing another pencil he maneuvered the key over and smiled when he saw the tiny symbol scratched onto its surface.

"Did Corbin ever give you any indication that he was interested in abnormalities of Sleepy Hollow whilst you were working together?" He asked, leaning over to get a closer look at the symbol. 

Abbie snorted. "He was the most down to earth man I'd ever met. If I hadn't found these files I wouldn't have thought he even knew what the word 'coven' meant."

"Here," he said, calling her closer. "Look at this symbol etched onto the key. Tell me what you see."

Abbie leaned over, her shoulder grazing his as she peered at the key. He felt her weight, solid, human and he felt a slight tremor as he registered the contact. 

"It almost looks like a leaf."

Crane smiled. "An oak leaf if I'm not mistaken. It's a rendering I've seen before."

Lifting her head, she gazed at him, eyes curious but warm. 

"I recall it being used as a symbol of protection, of steadfastness, and, if you look closely, you'll see the same symbol carved into the cornerstones of the church gates. Corbin may not have entirely believed the evidence of his own eyes but he took no chances with his research. This key is protected."

Crane pushed the gleaming object towards Abbie's hand. "He must have had a great deal of faith in you."

Since that moment only Abbie handled the key, accepting that it was simply another mystery binding them to the path they had been set upon.

Watching Abbie flip through the files with now-practiced ease, he knew that it was at that moment he had bound himself to her as well. Her reaction to Crane's faith had cast his own tremulous feelings into sharp relief. 

_The hitch in her breath had caught him unawares and he had closed his eyes to the onslaught of feeling. Crane knew the anger and impotence of having your veracity and very sanity challenged, what must it have been like for a young girl to have faced such horrors that he himself only witnessed as full grown man? To find even one person who believed in you was truly a gift, the clarity of trust cleansing, washing away the cobwebs of doubt that weave their way through the mind. It was like coming into the light after floundering in the dank recesses._

Abbie's small noise of triumph broke his reverie. He smiled as she pulled a file from the cabinet with a grim sense of satisfaction. Crane wondered for the hundredth time if she knew just how special she was, how much he had come to rely on her companionship. He swallowed and reached for the map she held out for him, tamping down a grimace as the taste of dirt filled his mouth and willing away the phantom scrabbling of beetles across his skin. Crane was both less and more than human but Abbie, with her sheer force of will, pulled him into her wake and into the light. 

He would be a fool not to follow.


End file.
